The FCC should set the national ownership cap to 50 percent, eliminate the UHF discount and grandfather pre-existing combinations, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-318 from a host of TV station owners, including Gray Television, Hearst Television, Raycom and Scripps. Those actions have the best chance of letting broadcasters remain competitive, “a reasonable balance among the competing interests,” the broadcasters said. To facilitate local journalism, broadcasters “must be free to combine television, radio, print, and digital online assets in whatever fashion makes business sense to serve discrete local markets,” they said. The companies commissioned an economic study saying a 50 percent cap “would be an appropriate and reasoned exercise” of FCC discretion. A decision in favor of a 50 percent cap based on economic arguments “ought to receive deference from a reviewing court,” the station owners said. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit appeared to question FCC rationale for restoring the UHF discount in oral argument last month (see 1804200059). “The Commission should rest its decision on the need to allow for increased economies of scale and scope and the need to safeguard localism,” the broadcasters said. The UHF discount is “an anachronism” that “can no longer be justified,” they said. “It ought to be eliminated.”

CBS majority shareholder National Amusements Inc. delivered written consents to amend the broadcaster's bylaws “to safeguard against unlawful action by CBS and its special committee,” National Amusements said Wednesday. The CBS board filed a lawsuit and motion for a restraining order Monday to keep NAI from intervening in plans to dilute NAI stock and take away majority control (see 1805140044). “The amendment principally requires that certain board actions with respect to dividends and changes to CBS’ bylaws be approved by a supermajority of the CBS Board,” the NAI release said. The “irresponsible action" poses “significant risk” to the network, the investor said. “NAI was compelled to take this measured step to protect its position while also mitigating further disruption.” CBS didn’t comment.

The FCC proposal to eliminate mid-term equal employment opportunity reports should be implemented, and calls for more sweeping changes to EEO policy should be ignored as outside the scope of the current proceeding, said NAB and nearly every state broadcast association in replies in docket 18-23 (see 1805010075). No commenters opposed the FCC media modernization plan, the broadcasters said. Deleting the requirement would “further the Commission’s goal in the Media Regulation Modernization Initiative to reduce unnecessary administrative obligations,” NAB said. A jointly filed call for changes to EEO policy from diversity groups including the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition addresses “a wholly different issue” that isn’t part of the mid-term EEO NPRM, NAB said. The changes sought would raise constitutional problems and don’t really involve FCC media modernization proposal, the broadcasters said. Previous attempts to implement the policies called for by the diversity groups haven’t survived judicial scrutiny, the state broadcast associations said. The diversity groups’ proposals aren't related to the NPRM and would threaten “the judicial viability of the Commission’s EEO Rule” if enacted, the state associations said.

The FCC Media Bureau will seek comment on a petition for rulemaking by Ocean State TV to delete Channel 17 WPXQ-TV Block Island, Rhode Island, from the DTV table of allotments and substitute Channel 17 at Newport said an NPRM released Tuesday. Ocean State operates WPXQ as a shared channel with its WLWC New Bedford, Massachusetts, the NPRM said. Ocean State also wants the agency to change WPXQ’s community of license to Newport, the NPRM said. Newport is a larger community than Block Island and this won’t involve a change in station facilities, the NPRM said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau and other federal authorities seized radio equipment from a Manhattan pirate station April 10, the commission said in a release Tuesday. It was a joint effort by the FCC, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. “We are pursuing multiple legal routes to stop pirate broadcasters,” said bureau Chief Rosemary Harold. Pirate station Rumba FM, which broadcast on 95.3 FM from a high-rise apartment building, ignored multiple warnings from the FCC, the agency said. “Pursuant to a federal court order, authorities seized equipment operated by the illegal radio station at that station’s antenna location on St. Nicholas Avenue in Manhattan.” Rumba FM couldn’t be reached for comment.

Gray Television, Nexstar and NAB support the FCC proposal to streamline reauthorization of satellite broadcast stations, they commented in docket 18-63 for Friday’s comment deadline, posted that day and Monday. The NPRM sought comment on relaxing rules so when such stations change owners, the FCC would no longer require the new owner to make extensive showings that the station should keep its satellite status (see 1803190048). No other entities commented, and there was no opposition to the proposal, unanimously approved by commissioners. The proposal would “increase the efficiency” of FCC oversight and reduce waste, Nexstar said. “The showings required to demonstrate the need for satellite designations are costly and time-consuming,” NAB said. All three commenters said the FCC should take up Gray’s request that a station’s satellite status shouldn’t require extensive showings even if the parent station changes. The status of a parent station is immaterial to a station’s satellite status, Gray said. The FCC’s review “focuses on whether the satellite could operate without its association with any full power station -- not on the merits of a particular parent/satellite combination,” the company said.

NextRadio developer Emmis Communications feels “very strongly about the future" for the FM-reception smartphone app, said CEO Jeff Smulyan on a Thursday earnings call. “We’ve had some terrific discussions with other broadcasters about that future, and we’re working on that.” Emmis also is “excited about the future for NextRadio outside the United States, not only in Latin America and Canada, but also now in Asia,” he said. Q4 ended Feb. 28 was “another good quarter” for NextRadio, said Smulyan. The quarter included Samsung’s agreement to unlock FM chips in its Galaxy phones and JVCKenwood’s CES announcement adopting NextRadio for the connected car (see 1801120025). “I think we are seeing the realization among our industry and among advertisers of the value of the data attribution to advertisers that we provide” through NextRadio, he said. “Stay tuned for more interesting announcements from NextRadio and our involvement with other broadcasters, who see the value of the work that we’re doing, that we need to do as an industry.”

The FCC general counsel denied another petition from Edward Stolz for reconsideration of its decision to renew the licenses of five California radio stations owned by Entercom. “Petitions for reconsideration of orders that deny reconsideration of an earlier order may be dismissed by the staff as repetitious,” said the order, released Tuesday. The Media Bureau, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and commissioners rejected previous appeals from Stolz (see 1709110047). The petition was also rejected for not stating a basis for recon.

A request for a five-year extension of waiver of broadcast requirements for audio description of non-text emergency information is “justified and appropriate,” said petitioners NAB, the American Council of the Blind and American Foundation for the Blind, in a meeting last week with staff from the Media and Consumer and Governmental Affairs bureaus, recounted a filing posted Wednesday in docket 12-107. The current waiver expires May 26. “This will allow time for industry to transition to technologies with greater potential for integrating an efficient technical solution,” the filing said. Since most emergency information conveyed through graphics echoes the information in emergency text crawls, and such crawls are already “aurally described,” the extension won’t harm consumers, said the groups.

The FCC can’t process Sinclair buying Tribune until terms and buyers of all the related divestitures are known, said the American Cable Association in a meeting Thursday with Media Bureau staff, recounted a filing posted Monday in docket 17-179. Under recently amended terms, Sinclair won’t temporarily hold ownership over any to-be-divested Tribune stations, ACA said. ACA has said even a temporary transfer to Sinclair pending a divestiture could activate after-acquired clauses (see 1803130042) in some retransmission consent contracts. ACA and bureau staff discussed whether the commission will request data and information from the parties seeking to acquire the divested stations. In a letter to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel posted Monday, Heritage Broadcasting of Michigan CEO Peter Iacobelli said Sinclair/Tribune would have disastrous effects on localism and retrans: “This merger will result in the overwhelming anti-competitive market environment.”